Hello guys. I have some major issues with my S3. In general it has very weak reception compared to my S1. I've had two providers KPN HI and Tele 2, the latter uses t-mobile's network. With both providers and several different sim cards I encounter the same problems. Not only is reception in general weaker than my S1, it also drops calls very frequently. Mind you, I live in central Amsterdam, where I've never had reception problems with any provider at all. Sometimes when signal drops it comes back after 10 to 20 seconds. Sometimes it's completely gone and I have to reboot the phone to get service again. On average, I have to reboot the phone 6 to 8 times a day. The phone is on stock rom, latest firmware.
My s3 has been to samsung repair two times. The first time they checked for software issues. After a week they told me they couldn't find anything wrong, but they updated to the latest firmware. The problems were still there. They then took my phone for 3 weeks. When I got it back they couldn't say if they found the problem, but the phone went through general inspection (?) so it should be fine. Wrong. Literally one hour after having back my phone I tried calling someone. I was standing outside, had 4 bars of reception, but got dropped out of the conversation after 3 seconds. The no service symbol was showing. I rebooted and tried to call again. This time it worked. After an hour I checked my phone and surely, the no service symbol was showing again.
I'm getting very tired of this. I have a 550 euro phone that doesn't make me do phone calls 2 out of 3 times. People calling me have complained that they get voicemail instantly. I called Samsung and they told me they couldn't do anything but take the phone in for repair again. The shop where I purchased the phone says the same thing. I have no choice but to send it to repair, which means that I will lose my phone for at least 3 weeks again.
If someone can offer me advice, please, I would appreciate it very much. I wish I didn't gave away my s1...
Edit: Should've posted this in the general s3 sub.
Ask them for expedited repair and shipping, Samsung does a pretty good job and helping out when you're nice and friendly with them.
Let them know the situation, tell them you don't want to cause any problems, but that this is the third time you've sent the phone, if they can kindly either do a more thorough review of the phone and figure out what's wrong with it and fix it or give you a different new/refurbished phone. Or something.
Related
Not sure if anyone else has had this problem but i randomly get mobile network drops once or twice a week. The phone works perfectly well but the mobile network just drops, you cannot scan for network at all. The only way i have found around it is to enable plane mode to drop all connections and then turn plane mode back off so the network starts up. This often takes between 5 - 10 mins for it to kick in.
Tried two roms but now back to stock but still happening.
Have you tried flashing the latest radio? They are listed in the dev section.
The recent OTA 1.21.405.2 update included a new radio I think. Did you put this on too?
Since then, I have also been having the network drop out. I am missing a lot of calls as a result. Prior to this update I had two months of problem-free operation on my stock 2.1 ROM.
From reading the google forums, this is a wide-spread issue. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be that people updating to 2.2 froyo seem to see the problem stop. Two weeks to wait for us stock ROM boys according to the rumours then! Fingers crossed.
It's a bit embarrassing having this flashy toy when it struggles to be a phone at random intervals. At the weekend one of my less techy friends was waving his Nokia 6210i in my face saying, "At least I can make and recieve calls!". So I changed the language on his phone to Turkish when he left it lying about. The old ones are the best.
I am going to test the 1.21.405.2 theory by doing a factory reset later this week when I have time. Problem should persist if it is the new radio. Will post back with the results.
OK did a factory reset this morning. I left all my apps off, and did not set back up any google account business. I basically left it as a standard mobile phone.
Within 7 hours, guess what....yes it's lost the connection again. Strongly believe this is a radio problem. I'm too noob to know if I can flash the radio without rooting. Anyone?
I have since submitted my complaint with HTC CS. Will await their response, and post it here.
In the interim, turning airplane mode off and on again does regain the connection, and I have installed an app from the market place called "No Coverage Alert". It will now beep and buzz if I loose the connection so at least I will be aware every time it bombs out. Far from ideal but should do for now.
Watch this space.
Yes i have tried the two radios posted but i havent tried any international ones such as europe or asia. I still randomly get network drop and i need to turn radio off and back on again for it to pick up.
Maybe i should ask a chef if these drops are logged anywhere on the device so i can root in and look at the logs myself and diagnose what the network drop is on my phone.
Just to confirm, tried multiple radios and roms, i know exactly what i am doing all i would like is explaination of why it happens. It is not user error as i have tried with stock rom, no fancy apps etc to stop it from working or changing config.
its got something to do with the network radio libs that need a service restart. i am 100% sure if i rooted in and knew which service to restart it would work also
Erm.... this is a little embarrassing but I feel I need to own up to prevent misleading anyone. I have arranged with HTC customer support to send my Desire back for repair. They pick it up Monday.
I bought a cheap £10 phone to keep me going. It arrived this morning. After I had finished laughing at it, I put the SIM card in and powered up the phone.
"No SIM card instered" was the message it greeted me with. After numerous power-up and power downs, and some SIM card hoakee-coakee, it finally recognised the SIM card......then dropped the signal to Orange. EXACTLY what my HTC Desire did.
Doh.
I had tried the SIM card in another phone (my girlfriends Blackberry) when the problems first started and it had worked straight away. But the SIM card seems to be random in it's failures. Should have tested more rigorously.
Sorry guys but in my instance it seems I have simply a faulty SIM card. The first one I have ever had go wrong in 12 years, but there you go. I was too fast to blame Android/HTC.
A|ex, please try your SIM card in another handset. Do several power-ups to see if it goes wrong. Would explain why trying numerous radios/ROMs has not helped you.
Let me know?
I had the same issue. Talked all day and evening, then toyed around with the phone a little, flashed a new ROM, no connection. oO okay, that's weird. Tried 3 different ROMs, reset to factory settings. Went to Orange, the SIM was borked. Thankfully, getting a new one took all of 5 minutes and didn't cost me a dime.
Yep. Was the SIM card. The new one arrived from Orange this morning. Popped it in and it's working straight away. My 3G has even improved slightly I reckon.
Six hours of use and not one drop yet.
Thank god for that.
Hey guys,
I'm with Vodafone UK (notorious for their bad signal coverage) but this morning when I woke up, my HOX has had absolutely no signal.
I've tried everything I can think of to resolve the issues, standard restart, hard restart, removing the sim card etc. but to no avail.
I also wondered if it was maybe Vodafone having a bad day too and asked my friends who are also with them, if they had any signal. They all have full signal.
Then i checked the settings on my device, phone identity.
For some reason, the IMEI, IMEI SV, IMSI and phone number are now all unknown. I'm not really sure what this means, but I know they normally have something underneath them.
This has led me to believe its an issue with my sim card/contract whatever... maybe I haven't paid my contract so Vodafone cut me off, went online and checked. Everything has been paid for.
Got any suggestions as to whats wrong and how I can resolve this please?
Hi,
I had a similar problem (also on Vodafone, but it may just be coincidental). I had no signal for a couple of days and thought it was due to a screw up during my number porting from O2.
Anyway, after 2 days of calling customer services and having my SIM swapped twice I went into the store and they replaced my phone. It's fine now.
Funny enough I also woke up to phone having zero signal, but am with o2. After 1min or even less signal came back.
just got off the phone to the Vodafone people.
After trying my sim card in my friends Vodafone HOX (black), I got signal. This has led me to believe its a hardware issue, but despite this the phonerep still insisted it might be a software issue (I have the latest OTA update, same as my friend and his is fine? NB: his device doesnt have the flicker issue unlike mine).
Will have to visit the local store to have the shop monkey tell me the dreaded, "we'll have to send it away for repair" probably. If this is the case, the phonerep said I would probably have to pay for any repairs/new handset as I dont have insurance. Is that fair because I'm still well within warranty..?
Sounds about right, if you within your 28 days you can ask for a replacement. As per rules. Even HTC say to replace. Anything after 28 days needs to be sent to HTC for repair. You shouldn't have to pay for any repairs it should be covered under warranty. They can refuse or charge if you have tampered with it, as in did the HTC unlock and installed a custom rom.
See what the shop says, if HTC do charge then kick up a big fuss.
No issues with my vodafone sim in mine, however had terrible issues with GG, kept losing sim card I assumed it was a faulty sim card causing the issues.
Hey there, my girlfriend is on Vodafone with an iPhone 4S, she lost her signal yesterday morning and still hasn't had it back bar a five minute window this afternoon. she lives near a place called Devizes (its in Wiltshire) but her mum had it back from last night, I don't know anyone else on Vodafone so I don't know how far it has spread.
Edited to add: you can check for reported signal/mast issues here (http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Faults-Board/bd-p/69) the bit on the right of the first set of numbers in the thread title is the start of the postcode for the area the mast is based.
Think I'm a few days past the 28 days, just my luck! And I haven't done anything to the phone whatsoever, everything is stock.
More evidence that something's gone wrong... After leaving it on charge all night (as per), the battery has dropped from 100% to 14% in the space of 4 hours with just some casual wifi usage. It's also extremely quick to heat up now, and thats just from leaving it on charge.
If they make me pay for a blatant hardware issue I will kick up a massive fuss. Why should I pay to have the manufacturer fix a phone that has clearly been made to an unsatisfactory level?
Hi and thanks for any help that you can provide me.
I bought an Galaxy Note 2 SGH-T889 Tmobile version like 7 months ago from a store or reseller in Toronto Canada, the phone was in theory factory unlock, to use with the Wnmobile network which uses the same frequency as Tmobile. The phone was working until 2 days ago. Well always the phone has issue connecting to the network in some specific areas, specially because the Wind network it's not that good, but during the last 2 weeks I noticed more and more problems and some times it was just disconnected showing a circle with an slash or crossed out. After reboot the phone usually fixed the problem, until 2 days ago I had to do it every 2 hours and then the next day it just was permanent. I tried everything so far:
Remove battery and reboot
Remove battery and SIM card and reboot
Use a diiferent SIM card from my son's phone
Replace for a new SIM card
Clear Cache
Factory Reset
Reflash the modem with Odin
The phone has the latest stock ROM 4.1.2, BASE T889UVBMD1
The problem is Samsung say because it's a Tmobile they can not support it here, I have to send the phone to Samsung USA, I still fighting with the store because they said it will be covered locally, but that is another story.
I red many post talking about similar problems with the Galaxy S3 or S4 and one said that installing Jedi X14 fixed the problem, but to do that I think I have to root the phone, which not be a big problem.
The other weird thing is the phone works using other SIM card GSM, not tested with a LTE SIM.
There is any way to test if the radio/antenna for the WCMDA is disabled or broken
Thanks
fasterfoxy said:
Hi and thanks for any help that you can provide me.
I bought an Galaxy Note 2 SGH-T889 Tmobile version like 7 months ago from a store or reseller in Toronto Canada, the phone was in theory factory unlock, to use with the Wnmobile network which uses the same frequency as Tmobile. The phone was working until 2 days ago. Well always the phone has issue connecting to the network in some specific areas, specially because the Wind network it's not that good, but during the last 2 weeks I noticed more and more problems and some times it was just disconnected showing a circle with an slash or crossed out. After reboot the phone usually fixed the problem, until 2 days ago I had to do it every 2 hours and then the next day it just was permanent. I tried everything so far:
Remove battery and reboot
Remove battery and SIM card and reboot
Use a diiferent SIM card from my son's phone
Replace for a new SIM card
Clear Cache
Factory Reset
Reflash the modem with Odin
The phone has the latest stock ROM 4.1.2, BASE T889UVBMD1
The problem is Samsung say because it's a Tmobile they can not support it here, I have to send the phone to Samsung USA, I still fighting with the store because they said it will be covered locally, but that is another story.
I red many post talking about similar problems with the Galaxy S3 or S4 and one said that installing Jedi X14 fixed the problem, but to do that I think I have to root the phone, which not be a big problem.
The other weird thing is the phone works using other SIM card GSM, not tested with a LTE SIM.
There is any way to test if the radio/antenna for the WCMDA is disabled or broken
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phone is working fine with a friends sim card . There is nothing more then a issue with your sim. go to the store and have them to give you a new sim card or flash the one you have. I had that issue similar here with at&t all the time.. sims would just loose network.. The fix for me LEAVE AT&T
Good luck.
Yes, I replaced the SIM card and I got a new one.
Just trying to eliminate all the options, I just did a factory reset again, and put it back the SIM card, located outside in an area where I know there is a strong signal and the phone was able to connect to the network and I install the account ans the apps just to test the data connection and it works fine. I was outside for 20 minutes with no problem. Later go back in the building, as soon I was inside for a few minutes the phone lose connection and the circle is back, then reboot again several times, and the phone does not recognize any network, Searching and no network is available.
Aww you left out that it only does this inside but works outside.. I Would say something is blocking the signal. LIKE maybe the building..
i have two bars in my house 3 on the deck and full signal in my yard ...
its just how it is..
erica_renee said:
Aww you left out that it only does this inside but works outside.. I Would say something is blocking the signal. LIKE maybe the building..
i have two bars in my house 3 on the deck and full signal in my yard ...
its just how it is..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But he said it was working in side for many month then all a sudden it doesn't work? I understand I live in a mobile home and reception sucks but that from the start but his was working for couple months. I would say he's phone reception receiver w/e it is or something in the phone is screwing up and it will need repairment or replace or service just taking a dump and getting worse.
jcervantes11 said:
But he said it was working in side for many month then all a sudden it doesn't work? I understand I live in a mobile home and reception sucks but that from the start but his was working for couple months. I would say he's phone reception receiver w/e it is or something in the phone is screwing up and it will need repairment or replace or service just taking a dump and getting worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could be right.. or maybe even the provider having issues with that tower .. its a tough thing to figure out..
Thanks for your ideas.
I get tired of trying to figure out was is the problem, so I got a SIM card from a diiferent provider which has the best network coverage and power, and i'ts happending the same, the majority of th etime the strength level is around -110 db even outside, with both providers, so it's the phone.
Now the question is could be possible that the antenna cable got disconnected or broken, (yes I dropped the phone a few times but nothing major) and it was working fine until few days ago. Another option it's some internal hardware is not working normally.
Now I have to find a way to repair becasue Samsung Canada does not want to do it becasue its a Tmobile phone.
Thanks, again.
fasterfoxy said:
Thanks for your ideas.
I get tired of trying to figure out was is the problem, so I got a SIM card from a diiferent provider which has the best network coverage and power, and i'ts happending the same, the majority of th etime the strength level is around -110 db even outside, with both providers, so it's the phone.
Now the question is could be possible that the antenna cable got disconnected or broken, (yes I dropped the phone a few times but nothing major) and it was working fine until few days ago. Another option it's some internal hardware is not working normally.
Now I have to find a way to repair becasue Samsung Canada does not want to do it becasue its a Tmobile phone.
Thanks, again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anybody with same provider as you? Invite them in you're home see if they have connection. It's best if the person have same phone and same company. Can you send directly to Samsung? I have bad phone service my area with s2 and note 2 but my friend with evo 3d has more bar then me and its made by htc but could be two things ur phone crapping out on you which need repairment or like the guy above said tower signal getting weaker. It is hard to find out. Maybe for now for a bit since it's screw up try a rom but then again rom doesn't control radio settings section but wouldn't harm. Good luck.
I'm having the same issue since last month... but with any SIM card.
The network signal strengh rests between -89 to -110 dBm. (Horrible)
The network type is always UNKNOWN:0.
What I already tried:
- Using other SIM.
- Flashing Stock ROM
- Flashing Custom ROM (CM 10.1)
- Flashing all 5 avaliable modems.
What happens:
When I get VERY close to a network antenna... I can make calls and stuff...
What can be happening:
Hardware issues - T-Mobile latest LTE unlocking update maybe burned my antenna (or some network signal related hardware).
Software issues - Can't see how since I used many variations of ROM/Modem.
I live in Brazil and my network is TIM 47. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note II T889.
If anyone can confirm perfectly to me what composes the T889 antenna components... that would be nice...
I want to buy those parts from eBay and trying fixing my phone.
Thanks for your feedback it's really valuable becasue it's almost the same situation. Today I cleared up the situation with Samsung, if I want to be service under the warranty I have to bring the phone to one of repair centres in USA which it's kind of problem because I can do it only in the weekends but not impossible or what I'm doing tomorrow is to have an assessment by one of the repair centres in Toronto and I have to pay in this case, if it's something reasonable.
In my case I did not update the phone in 2 months at least so it's not software in my case, but one difference could be I got a new job 3 months ago, in my previous job the majority of the time I got 5 bars , I guess the cell tower was close to that place, and in my house the coverage it's good. In my new job, my office it's in the middle of the building, far from the windows, so the signal always was really bad, 0-1 bar.
Wondering if could be possible that a bad connection can burn the antenna or the circuit that controls the connection.
The other thing is there are many customers specially for the Galay S4 complaining about a similar problem, and I did not find any answer on how to fix this problem.
I'll post any update just in case it can help someone else.
Thanks.
Did you try to disable lte and use 4g/3g/2g only?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
darekz said:
Did you try to disable lte and use 4g/3g/2g only?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... I did... and the problem persists.
Try to enable and disable wifi calling.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
A also have this problem with T-Mobile Note 2 and have already tried everything you guys have...I guess I got no choice but to request a replacement which sucks because my phone was pristine and worked perfectly otherwise. It's just the damn weak to no signal that's driving me crazy. Especially since I'm paying for premium data coverage and it's pretty much money in the trash every month.
That's it. I made the call and the replacement arrives in a couple days. They offered me the "jump" program. Anyone on that? Is that worth doing on T-Mobile?
I traded an unlocked i317m for a g pro. I just picked up a unlocked t889 as welll. The person with my old i317m want my t889 since hes using simple mobile. Problem is when I went to trade I put his sim in my t899 it wont register on tmobile. Seems its only working with at&t as thats the service I have. Now with the i317m I gave him originally it works with any sim. How is this possible that a unlocked tmobile t889 wont register with his sim on tmobile network but the unlocked i317m works with any sim?
Yesterday I replaced the microUSB module that is connected with the antenna and replaced the SIM card module too.
That did NOT worked.
So... the problems is problably on the mainboard/chipset... too expensive to fix.
Another big hardware failure for Samsung's history.
I've had the replacement for about a week now. So far no signal problems. It's like when I first got my original phone. I'm sticking with the note 2 for at least another 6 months since I joined the jump program. Can't wait to see the note 3 next week
Update just to close this case
Well, after I sent the phone for repair to Samsung USA, I got it back and the problems happened again after a few days, then I sent it back for the second time to Samsung, got it back and the problem happened again after a few weeks. Basically, I'm getting rid of this phone, now the warranty is already expired and half of the time the phone was full of problems with the network.
The lesson in this case is to avoid getting hardware from the first batch (to wait a few months after the launch) or without a long term warranty (3 years), and probably will be my last Samsung device.
:crying:
Diesel-30 said:
Can't wait to see the note 3 next week
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean Note 4, no?
So my wifes phone no longer likes to be bothered with phone calls or text messages. Her phone has been running flawlessly since we got it and about a month ago she dropped it and cracked the screen. It was too the point where the touch screen wouldn't respond to anything and we had to have it fixed. She took it to one of those places in the mall and they said they could have it back to us in a week or so. Once she got it back, she has had constant issues with not being able to connect to the Sprint Network (only for phone calls, data and wifi still work fine). She often roams but still with very little signal strength. She tried a factory reset, as per the Sprint Customer Service suggestion, and it did nothing. She had remained Unrooted up until this point and I finally convinced her to come to the dark side. I did the root, installed TWRP, and flashed her with Optimus DE. I got no change. I reflashed her Radio. Still nothing. I am at Wits end on this one and ask for some guidance. It would be much appreciated
(ps. She doesn't have insurance on her phone.)
iam87x said:
So my wifes phone no longer likes to be bothered with phone calls or text messages. Her phone has been running flawlessly since we got it and about a month ago she dropped it and cracked the screen. It was too the point where the touch screen wouldn't respond to anything and we had to have it fixed. She took it to one of those places in the mall and they said they could have it back to us in a week or so. Once she got it back, she has had constant issues with not being able to connect to the Sprint Network (only for phone calls, data and wifi still work fine). She often roams but still with very little signal strength. She tried a factory reset, as per the Sprint Customer Service suggestion, and it did nothing. She had remained Unrooted up until this point and I finally convinced her to come to the dark side. I did the root, installed TWRP, and flashed her with Optimus DE. I got no change. I reflashed her Radio. Still nothing. I am at Wits end on this one and ask for some guidance. It would be much appreciated
(ps. She doesn't have insurance on her phone.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like the antenna may not have been reconnected upon completion of the screen replacement. At this point though I would attempt a PRL and profile update for the phone. If that still doesn't work I would take it back to the repair shop and request they check the antenna since it was working before the repair.
This ^^^^ And also, Optimus DE can have weaker signal. Try a Stock ish ROM. You can also try going to Settings>About>More>Mobile Networks and check CDMA. It can help too.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Thanks for the suggestions, I will let her know about the antenna issue, that sounds like it possibly could be the case. I tried Stocktimus as well as Optimus DE, I just forgot to mention it. I chose the most basic (closest to Stock option) it had.
Also, I tried the PRL and Profile update and it had no change in signal.
Thanks for the replies.
So for the past year or so I've seen instances where my phone shows 5 bars and data, however calls go to my voicemail. I find out when I do something with the phone that forces it to rejoin the network.
I've got a 3rd party number that my enterphone uses, that number rings both my wife's phone and my phone at the same time. However very often only her phone rings, both of us appear to have good signals.
It seems that my phone is falling off the network but not showing this fact. If I switch to and from airplane mode it seems to regain network, or if I try to make a call it will fail the first time but work afterwards.
Any suggestion? I already installed Cyanogen about a month back hoping that this would resolve the problem, however it didn't have any impact. Same problems as before...
I'm wondering if flashing the radio would help, if so which files should I use?
I actually gave up on this phone and ordered a oneplus one, however that one arrived completely broken so now I'm stuck with the note 2 until that RMA gets approved or I get frustrated and just buy another phone.
Thanks in advance.
Gary